Coordination Polymers and MOFs
There is no consensus in the scientific literature about the definitions of the terms coordination polymer and metal-organic framework. Some authors suggest definitions based on chemical bonding others propose that the terms coordination polymer and metal-organic framework are synonyms. An IUPAC project was initiated in 2009 to address the terminology issues in this area and will deliver its final report in 2012. A progress report has been published and provisional recommendations under review can be found here.
| Dimensionality of Inorganic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensionality of Organic | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 0 | Molecular Complexes | Hybrid Inorganic Chains | Hybrid Inorganic Layers | 3-D Inorganic Hybrids | |
| 1 | Chain Coordination Polymers | Mixed Inorganic-Organic Layers | Mixed Inorganic-Organic 3-D Framework | ||
| 2 | Layered Coordination Polymer | Mixed Inorganic-Organic 3-D Framework | |||
| 3 | 3-D Coordination Polymers | ||||
Describing and organizing the complex structures of MOFs can be difficult and confusing. Recently, a system of nomenclature has been developed to fill this need. Inorganic sections of a MOF, called secondary building units (SBU), can be described by topologies common to several structures. Each topology, also called a net, is assigned a symbol, consisting of three lower-case letters in bold. MOF-5, for example, has a pcu net. The database of net structures can be found at the Reticular Chemistry Structure Resource.
Read more about this topic: Metal-organic Framework